The Power of the Paper Plate Award

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"Getting a paper plate award is the best feeling. It proves that all your hard work, dedication and preparation are recognized. It motivates me to try harder. Once you get one paper plate you want more. I always bring my A game so I can get another paper plate"- Paris Dickson, Legends 8th grader

Praise is an important learning tool, but it is a difficult tool to use correctly. Some psychologists warn that praise for overall ability is harmful because it suggests that any good performance is a result of natural ability, with the implication that a poor performance is a result of natural deficiency. Praise for an outcome that emphasizes ability then makes a child reluctant to take on a challenge, which always has the possibility of failure, because a failure signals lack of ability. Failures then threaten one's overall self-esteem. So, it is proposed that children are praised for effort, and for specific achievements that are clearly linked to hard work, rather than for ability.

After many years of studying the power of reinforcement and its cognitive and behavioral effects, this seemingly simple concept is not effectively being used to elicit the changes in behavior each leader is seeking. Many times punishment is masked as reinforcement and coaches accidentally end up reinforcing the mere behavior we are working to extinct, or we are modifying something that ISN'T a behavior!

Basic example #1:

Person/Player is swinging their arms wildly while attempting to pass the ball. Coach says "don't swing your arms". What we have now done is highlight the areas we DON'T want vs. what we DO want!

Appropriate answer would be "hold arms still before, during and after contact with the ball" Speak in "DO" statements vs. "DON'T" statements.

When working with the younger ages, many volleyball coaches may say this an excessive amount of times throughout one individual practice. MAYBE Susie is struggling in this area more significantly than her peers. This could become PAPER PLATE WORTHY if and when this is finally done correctly!

Coaches hope to never miss an athlete doing something correctly, and the paper plate award takes that concept to a whole new level of power.

Here are the criteria of EARNING a paper plate.

- Do something special

This could be physical, vocal or emotional.

It could be a moment or an entire practice.

When presenting the plate, make it a HUGE deal!

Share it on social media with an elaborate description.

This is earned and deserved and should be celebrated.

Be specific o DO NOT give these plates out to everyone, do not feel guilty about this. The power of the award is that is it EARNED and REAL.

The award is differentiated by its nature. It is an equal opportunity.

NEVER Give 2 awards.

Give an award for each competition day and each practice day

We are entering our 2nd season of using paper plate awards consistently throughout the Legends Organization (the organization is only in its 2nd year of existence) and 5th year of using them personally. I have had fortune 500 companies nd NCAA Volleyball programs call to learn more about the power of the plain paper plate to motivate and recognize significant details of others contributions.

Use them carefully as abuse of power will take you in the opposite direction of where you are intending to go...

As coaches or educators, we all hear the standard "horror story" from athletes regarding their previous experiences. We try to listen, without joining the negativity meanwhile thinking silently that the child was right to be upset about the treatment and comments they endured. Usually a basic failure of understanding the depth of positive reinforcement vs. praise is key and hidden.

I will leave you with this quote from current Michigan State University, Freshman Libero, Jamye Cox...

"At first when I heard about the paper plate I was a little confused but excited because it gave me something more to fight for while I was at practice. As the season went on I started to realize that there was more to the paper plate award. It wasn't just about getting the plate, but it was about what was written in that plate that day.

You could never get a plate for doing the same thing over and over again, so every day going into practice is set a goal and focus on one thing to get better at weather that was being loud and vocal, or supporting my teammates or just going all out the whole time. I started to enjoy every second I was in the gym because not only was I fighting or something I loved, but I saw myself improving every day due to these paper plates.

You wouldn't think something so small would have such a huge impact on your play, but it really brings out a side of you that you don't know and I found that. It made me realize that if I focused every day like that even without them I'd be a day better every day. I still to this day walk into practice and we may not have paper plates but I tell myself to work on one thing and to really be successful in it as if I was out there fighting for another paper plate.

These plates have made me not only a better player, but more aware of how to pick out piece by piece the things I need to get better at and how to get my mind so focused on just that one major key of the day and be successful. I didn't walk out every day with a paper plate (I wish I would have) but after those practices I'd go home and ask myself what I should have don't differently as a player to get one. The paper plates made me more of a competitor and I couldn't be more thankful because I still carry that with me today."

By the way, Jamye received the first 7 paper plates of the season...

For related reading for junior volleyball coaches click here. For more education for coaches click here.

About the Author

Kilee Goetz is the Founder and Club Director of Legends Volleyball Organization in Brighton, Michigan. Currently in its 2nd season, Legends has over 35 teams. Kilee is also a Color Commentator and Analyst for ESPN. She played collegiately for the University of Georgia.

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Junior Volleyball Association, Inc., is a nonprofit association whose mission is to promote the growth of youth and junior volleyball through program and resource development, education and events. It is our desire that all member clubs agree to the following JVA Guiding Principals and adhere to the Code of Conduct and Ethics as stated below.

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The good name and reputation of our association and all our member clubs depend, to a very large extent, upon each club taking personal responsibility for maintaining and adhering to the guidelines set forth in this Code. Your business conduct and your personal conduct must be guided by the guidelines set for in this Code with a focus of always doing the right thing.

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The written appeal will be made to JVA Board Secretary whom will Chair the Appeal Committee. Upon receipt of the appeal, the Board President will appoint two other active JVA members to serve on the committee. The committee will convene in person or via teleconference within fourteen days to review the Board's decision. The committee will afford the suspended member the opportunity to give written or verbal testimony. The Chair of the Appeal Committee will notify the member of the decision within 7 days of the appeal meeting. The decision of the Appeals Committee is final.

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LEADERSHIP: The courage to shape a better future;COLLABORATION: Leveraging our collective genius;INTEGRITY: Being real;ACCOUNTABILITY: Recognizing that if it is to be, it's up to me;PASSION: Showing commitment in heart and mind;DIVERSITY: Being as inclusive as our brands; andQUALITY: Ensuring what we do, we do well.

These Online Social Media Principles are intended to outline how these values should be demonstrated in the online social media space and to guide your participation in this area, both when you are participating personally, as well as when you are acting on behalf of the Organization.

Read through the instructions, then scroll to the insurance options and choose between the following:a) JVA Program Insurance b) JVA Tournament/League Insurance c) JVA Camp/Instructional/Tot/Mini/Youth Insurance

You are now in the SportsEngine platform, embedded in our website.a) Returning user? Login! b) New user? Create a free login and password to the SportsEngine platform.

Depending on the insurance you clicked, you will be directed to the appropriate form.

Complete the form answering ALL questions with as much information as needed.

Once you click submit, you will directed to the Product Store.

Complete your purchase immediately. You will NOT receive your Certificate of Insurance unless you have paid!

At least two weeks prior to the start of your event. Due to the large volume of last minute requests, we are adding a $50 fee to expedite applications that are filed less than 2 weeks prior to your season/event.

The JVA Insurange Page will take you to the JVA Insurance Page on the SportsEngine platform.

Fill out the application for the insurance you need. BE SURE TO GIVE COMPLETE INFORMATION. You will need to have the official name of your site and the complete address. You should also confirm the insurance requirements of your facility. Some facilities require 3rd party certificates or additional endorsements. You will need an estimate of the number of non-JVA insured teams that will participate in your tournament.

Once you complete your application, you will be directed to the Product Store for payment. You will not receive your Certificate of Insurance until you make full payment

Note: SportsEngine has no affiliation with JVA insurance products being offered. Please refer to the JVA directly for information: Lisa Wielebnicki, lisa.wielebnicki@jvavolleyball.org

The administrator of your club's allplayers.com group can view all of the club's submissions (who completed their forms) as well as export an excel spreadsheet of each of the JVA forms that have been submitted by your members with all the data entered. The Club Administrator can access their Club's submissions by clicking here and registering for their club's JVA Player forms group and following the instructions on that page. We will then activate that person as the admin for the particular club they sign up for, enabling you to access the reports for your clubs' submissions when they are logged into their allplayers.com account. Instructions to access and download the reports of your club's submissions are on each club's individual JVA Player form group as well.

Clubs that are securing JVA insurance for their members, may file the required forms online with SportsEngine. There is no cost to your club, coaches or players to file forms online. Click here to get the link to your specific club's player forms for online submission (the two forms are combined together to simplify the process). The 2nd tab at the top of the page titled, "Member Clubs: Player forms submission links" has each club's link listed. Direct your families to that link to submit their forms. Instructions for parents are on that page. There are also instructions for Club Directors/Administrators to activate their ability to generate reports on all the submissions from their club.

Apply for coverage for the number of teams that you are sure you will have. You can always add teams at a later date.Reminder: The club insurance for your teams covers your coaches, club administrative staff and tryouts as well.

Yes, JVA will cover the cost of your officials' insurance coverage. If an official is injured, you need to complete a "JVA Incident Report". You also need to find out if the official is registered with PAVO and include that information on the incident report.

Each coach will need to submit the "JVA Coaches' Event Sign in Form" at team check-in. This document lets the Tournament Director know that all of the team's JVA insurance forms have been completed and submitted online at allplayers.com, or that the coach has a copy on hand of all of the players' forms. The "JVA Coaches' Event Sign in Form" should be attached to the team roster and kept on file. You do not need to collect or file any of the insurance forms, only the "JVA Coaches' Event Sign in Form".

On your Manage your group forms page, you can view all of the forms associated with your group.To view the form information your members have submitted, click Results next to the form that you would like to review. On the results page, you see an overview of the submissions for the form you selected. From here, you can view individual submissions or export some or all of the submissions as a file.

You may also choose to file hard copies of the required forms. The forms are available on the JVA web page under "Insurance". If you choose this method, a copy of all forms need to be held your club administrative files and a copy must be carried by the coach at all times.

We prefer that clubs use AllPlayers.com to handle your paperwork. It is the best way for us and you, as a Club Director, to know that all your paperwork has been completed properly. Additionally, unlike hard copies, you can't lose them or have to find a place to store them and you will be able to access them 24/7 online no matter where you are.

The participating teams may file the forms electronically: Prior to your event, request the clubs to create a group for their team on SportsEngine and then direct their parents to use this site to submit their insurance forms online. There are no fees to do this.ORProvide a hard copy of the forms listed above to all coaches and team reps. Inform them that it will be coaches' responsibility to make sure that they have, in their possession, the required forms. The coach or team rep will need to collect the liability and medical forms (USAV Medical Form is also acceptable) from each of their players. At the time of team check-in, the coach or team rep only needs to turn in the JVA Coaches' Event Sign-in Form to the Tournament Director.

Secure a copy of the JVA Release and Medical Form and JVA Participant Release of Liability for your file OR ascertain that the forms exist online within your SportsEngine account.

The Head Coach or Tournament Director should complete a JVA Incident Report at the time the injury occurs and turn in to the tournament director. A parent should never complete the "Incident Report", it will not be accepted by the insurance company as a legal record.

If the injury is minor simply keep the JVA Incident Report Form on file. If the injury is serious, email copies of the forms to Lisa Wielebnicki e at lisa.wielebnicki@jvavolleyball.org or drop in the mail to:

If the family needs to file a claim, email members@jvavolleyball.org to request a copy of the JVA Medical Claim Form. Lisa will insure that the JVA Incident Report has been filed. The family should follow the instructions for submission included on the form.

Note: If the event is not a JVA insured event, the insurance company will NOT cover any expenses.

UNITE By joining together, junior club directors can develop an organized group of small business leaders to lobby for improvement and better representation at the regional and national level. This type of effort will allow all clubs, both large and small, to be working partners with their regional and national leadership. The JVA feels strongly that since the junior community is the overwhelming source of funding for both the regional and national organizations, it should have a fair voice in the governance of those organizations. As partners, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) recognizes and supports the effort to bring all of the key organizations in the sport together. By forming a unified front the junior community can help lead the way in the development, promotion and marketing of our sport.

DEVELOP The JVA is committed to expanding the grassroots movement for volleyball to bring more players to the sport at the younger levels. While Volleyball might be popular at the High School level it has been far outpaced by sports such as soccer and softball at the Junior High and Grade School level. To reverse this trend we will be working with the AVCA and USA Volleyball to develop a training and competition model that will encourage widespread participation at the youth level (ages 8-12). This is a key area to address if the sport of Volleyball hopes to see significant growth in the years to come.

IMPROVE The JVA is committed to addressing 2 areas that we strongly feel have a negative impact on our sport:

(1) The sky rocketing costs of participation in junior volleyball. While club dues have steadily risen over the past two decades we feel those costs are manageable, but the cost of travel has exploded. It is now common place for travel costs to make up the vast majority of a player's membership fees during a club season. The JVA feels that a solution can be reached that can begin to curtail the escalating expense of junior volleyball and make the sport more inclusive. If this can be done then the sport will be much more appealing to a large section of the youth market that currently cannot afford to be involved.

(2) The current length of the junior season. In the past two decades the junior season has been extended approximately three weeks and now goes into the second week of July. The agreement is almost universal that the season is too long and the length of the season is contributing to several issues that have a negative impact on the sport. Those issues are less participation at the youth level, more injuries at all levels and an overuse factor for those players that must go directly from their club teams to the USA High Performance programs or their collegiate program. Many of the elite level collegiate coaches have been saying for years that many incoming freshman are entering college with overuse and chronic injuries that will plague them for most or all of their collegiate careers.

JVA has partnered with AAU for our mid-year championship and the AAU National Championships. The events will require membership with AAU. In return, the JVA mid-year championship will be insured by AAU, the top two teams in each division will be given free entry into the AAU National Championships and AAU will host a mid-year meeting for JVA in Orlando.

October 2006The JVA was formed when a concerned group of club directors met in Chicago to discuss the long term direction of junior volleyball. The directors, junior club athletes, and their families faced a governing body that offered their primary financial supporters a disproportionate voice in decision making, rapidly inflating costs, (especially for top teams to qualify to compete in the Open Division of the USAV Junior National Championships), and a season that offered athletes few off-season days. The group decided to form the JVDA (Junior Volleyball Directors Assoc.) as a lobby group to work for better conditions for juniors in USAV.

Out of that meeting, the Junior Volleyball Directors Association was formed. The mission of the new association was to represent, communicate and lobby for the development, growth and marketing of all levels of youth and junior volleyball.

Objectives:

• To be Accountable to all Constituents • To Promote Simplification of All Systems • To Promote Youth and Junior Development • To Promote Affordability/Representation • To Protect participants of the organization • To Promote Education for Coaches and Players • To Promote Inclusiveness & Affordability & Embrace all levels

It very soon became apparent that there was a need for an independent junior volleyball club association that would be responsive to all clubs, of all affiliations. The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) approached JVDA. The missions of the two organizations are very similar and a partnership was formed. JVDA had no staff, only a volunteer board. AVCA became the managing partner, responsible to administer the operations of the new association. Members were granted a dual membership, adding value to the association.

In the summer of 2009, JVDA leaders met for their first strategic planning session. The new association was growing rapidly. We needed more clarity of our mission and a full time Executive Director. Our new and current mission is to promote the growth of youth and junior volleyball through program and resource development, education and events.

Our Guiding Principals: Best Practices Affordability and Financial Responsibility Player Welfare Transparency Member Driven To reflect our growing membership of all adults involved in junior volleyball clubs, we officially changed our name to "Junior Volleyball Association" and created a new more youthful logo to reflect the change.

In 2015, to be more efficient and provide better service for our members, we took all our operations in house from AVCA. Both organizations value the dual memberships and we retained that partnership through today.

The JVA Board of Directors is elected from their membership with a one club, one vote format. The JVA Board will determine the overall strategy for the association, manage the financial resources and programming needs specific to juniors and advise the AVCA staff and board of directors on how to best serve the constituency and increase the membership.

JVA is a partner association of the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association). The advantage of this relationship is that JVA membership includes AVCA membership for all full members and gives full access to AVCA educational services and programs.

Volleyball products and supplies discounts available through developed partnerships with AVCA Corporate Partners, Preferred Providers and event sponsors.

The only volleyball technical journal, Coaching Volleyball, and drills bulletin, Volleyball Ace Power Tips, available in the United States.

Networking opportunities with collegiate coaches and extensive information on college recruiting rules, program rankings, scholarship opportunities for players and job vacancies for coaches.

A website full of drills, practice ideas, and motivational materials.

An opportunity for collective lobbying with governing organizations (NCAA, USAV, NFHS) on issues important to the development of the sport.

The JVA is an association of Junior Club Directors and Coaches who are dedicated to all facets of junior volleyball and have a desire to offer the best programming possible to their members. JVA is a trade association established to serve those who dedicate themselves to a part or full time commitment to junior volleyball. To that end, JVA provides:

Information on best practices in club ownership, facility management, and methods to enhance your business acumen and effectiveness.

A lobbying group to influence USA Volleyball and other organizations that manage, regulate and influence the junior volleyball community

A source of information and coaching education specific to junior volleyball/club needs.

An avenue to access club directors for companies interested in investing in the junior volleyball marketplace.

An association that will build relationships and community within junior volleyball by linking club directors across regions, philosophy and club size.

The facility owner needs to identify insurance carriers, or an agent, familiar with the risks we face running a sports facility and volleyball club. There are several insurance companies that specialize in providing the coverage we need; such as participant and spectator liability, abuse and molestation, coaches professional, and accident medical to name a few. Once those companies are identified, applications should be submitted to no less than three of these companies to obtain the most competitive price. I can identify those companies, and they would vary depending on the state the facility is located in. Contact me directly for more information.
Glenn Pike, Club Director, MAVAOwner, Pike Insurance Group
gpike@pikeinsurancegroup.com

Great question Mary. Most clubs in our area try to make playing time as even as possible. We believe it is better to limit the playing time of players that we don't like, or players that have difficult parents. In fact, if I have a player that is not getting playing time, parents know they can get their daughter in the match if they bring me a grande soy latte in the morning, or a nice cold can of squirt in the afternoon.
I hope that helps!

The first thing I would recommend is for the coach and the athlete (and family) to acknowledge that if some training time is missed for the other sport, that athlete will likely not progress as fast as her teammates that don't miss any practice. Also, there is a cost physically to the player with the amount of jumping and other activity she is doing while playing two sports and measures should be taken to make sure that she is not at risk of overuse injuries. A third area to discuss is the playing time issues when a player is missing some training time to play the other sport. Her VB teammates may not think it is fair for a player that misses half of the practices to play just as much as the players that make it to 100% of the practices. All three of these areas need to be discussed and understood by the parties.
After that is established and understood by all, we believe it is important to identify how each type of conflict will be resolved. For example, if there is a volleyball practice and a practice of the other sport, how will that be resolved? What about a volleyball practice and the other sport's competition? What about a volleyball competition and the other sport's practice, and finally, what happens when both sports have competitions at the same time?
As long as both sports' coaches, the player, and the parents all have a clear understanding of all of the above, it should prevent too many problems.

The best route for younger players to choose in maximizing performance gains is to get their fruit/vegetable intake up from the normal North American 1-3 servings per day. The benefits of adding more servings of fruit/vegetables (7 or more servings per day) will supply the players that much needed nutrient boost to last those long hard fought weekends of juniors volleyball.
Here are a couple helpful websites with more information:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/for-young-athletes-good-reasons-to-break-the-fast-food-habit/http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/nutrition/36552.html
Robert Brown, Club Director, DFW Performance Volleyball
Primary Master Instructor for the USA Volleyball Conditioning Accreditation Program
5th year strength & conditioning coach for Texas Wesleyan University Volleyball program
Certifications:
USAV - CAP III
USAV - VCAP Master Instructor
NASM - Performance Enhancement Specialist
IYCA - Olympic Weightlifting Instructor

The occurrence of this situation is definitely on the rise with the struggling economy and the rising costs of club. We (Triangle Volleyball Club) employ several options. First, we attempt to extend our typical payment plan [absolutely all fees must be paid in full in order for the athlete to try out for the following season] and provide used/donated uniforms. Secondly, we have a scrip-based fundraiser program that anyone receiving financial aid is required to participate in. Thirdly, we provide scholarship that is need-based. We fund scholarships through club savings via the Scrip program, member donations, and a specified percent of overall club budget. A tip when awarding scholarships- we apply the scholarship as a match against their own payments. For example, let???s say costs are $4000 and scholarship is $2000. For every dollar they pay they are awarded a dollar in scholarship throughout the course of the season. It keeps their obligation in perspective. We also require regular payments, regardless of amounts. Otherwise, folks do tend to fall so far behind they cannot catch up.
Sherry Fadool Club Director, Triangle Volleyball Club

First, I would want to make sure that the parent understands the club's position on playing time. Is it equal, is it not guaranteed but earned? Assuming that it is not equal but earned, make sure that the player clearly understands what the player must do to earn more playing time. If the player is confused, then that is a problem. If the player is aware by the coach of the plan for more playing time the coach has done their job.
Protocol with the issue of an upset parent also comes into play. I suggest the following steps
Player-Coach
Player-Parent-Coach
Player-Parent-Coach-Club Director
Always make sure that the player is present in these meetings.
Bill Milborn, Club Director, Club Fusion, Chicago, IL
JVA Board of Directors, President

Obviously establishing and maintaining a strong club culture must start at the top and trickle down. That means administrators and coaches must first value and implement a structure that seeks to find commonality and make connections within the community between staff, athletes, and parents. We talk about Club ALL the time.
Having a common training place definitely helps but we do many ???little things??? that make connections:
1.Signing Night Celebration to kick off season. 2.Practice tees-they all match every practice 3.Big Sis/Lil Sis-connect teams at start of season. We match teams with like travel schedules so they support each other on the road. 4.Ride buses together to tournaments 5. Banquet dinners at hotel the night of arrival for multi-daytournaments 6. Retreat day???focus is on community and character. This is alsoour picture day. 7. Ball Control camp starts every season. No teams just playerspacking the gym for large group clinics 8. Team practice groupings???how we share courts???strength andconditioning format 9. How we start practice-circled up sharing exciting news [collegecommitments, player awards, etc.] 10. Uniform order at tournaments. Day 1-White for all; Day 2-Blue for all; Day 3-Black for all 11. Supporting each other at competition. 12. Consistent training program. Learning the same thing in the sameway connects athletes. 13. We travel as a club???parents do not control any of the schedule; it is all team and club directed and supervised. 14. There is so much MORE???.
Sherry Fadool, Club Director, Triangle Volleyball Club

We (Houston Juniors) use the Accuspike system in our building. During our training cycles involving position work we have 2 machines set up so that we can maximize the reps available to our hitters. We also use the machines during some of our camps when we need to maximize the reps on limited space. We usually explain to the athletes how to use the equipment then station a coach next to each machine to give feedback to the athletes.
Jeff Ham Head Training Coach Houston Juniors

Yes, there are times that a practice might run more than 3 hours and also times
when a club team will practice up to 4-5 days in a week.
The first part of the question regarding the length of the individual practice
will depend on what the goal of the training session is. For
a session to last 4 hours it would need to encompass the following:
(1) a low level of intensity for much of the practice (2) a great deal of
teaching & downtime where the players were receiving many verbal
cues and the rest to work ratio was very high (3) a low
compression emphasis where the athletes are not doing a great deal of
jumping, but rather focused on 1st and 2nd contact skills along with serving
where a large number of ball repetitions does not equate to fatigue or joint
stress. The golden rule for training usually comes down to the higher the
volume of work that you are doing (time or reps) then the lower the level of
intensity should be.
We have many training session every year that last up to 4 hours, but at least
60% + of the time spent in those training sessions is on serving, serve
receive, crosscourt setting and basic ball control training. We
would never spend more than 60-90 minutes of the 240 minute total on what I
would call "high intensity-high compressive training".
In regards to the number of days of practice each week it's important to take
the following into account.
1. How much is the team competing and what type of surface is the team
playing on?
2. What is being done within the practice setting in terms of the "volume
vs. Intensity" question that should determine how every training session
is structured?
3. How old and how physically developed are the athletes on the team and
can they handle consecutive training days?
I would suggest that all coaches attempt to coordinate their training and competitive
schedules together to take into account how much recovery time their
team is going to have throughout the season. Rest is one of
the keys to recovery and a coach must know when rest is needed over
training. On the other hand if a coach is smart and plans
accordingly a team can practice 4-5x per week as long as each practice has a
different emphasis and a well-varied level of intensity.
Good Luck,
Rick Butler, Club Director
GLV Inc. & Sports Performance Volleyball Club

JVA offers their member clubs a Free parent workshop from PCA, Positive Coaching Alliance. The workshop focuses on helping the athlete respect the game, performance versus outcome and the relationship between athlete, parent, and coach. Many clubs do provide other resources for families in this area and the area of recruiting. It is a good practice to inquire about those services prior to signing up for a club. It is also good to know if there are any additional fees for those services.

Our quick attack zone floats with the setter. I have my middles mark their starting point for all approaches just off the setters shoulder. This gives the defending middle blocker the same look all the time. The approach for the quick attack would be straight up.

I will use our power league as an example of how we handle the challenge of seeding teams into the first tournaments of the year. Our power league is the first large tournament in terms of levels of participation for our area. The outcome of the power league provides the best linear ranking of teams that participate in it from year to year and is used extensively to seed teams into non-power league events throughout the season. Obviously since the season is just getting started, we don???t have actual results to go by in order to seed or rank the teams until the power league gets going.
What we do to seed the initial power league is to rely on a small group of volunteers for each division. The teams first submit a questionnaire that indicates some things about their past performance, changes to their team rosters (plus or minus) and their anticipation of where their team will finish in the power league. Of course most coaches think their team will finish high, so that information is not that useful, but we do receive it.
What we have found to be the most useful information is the prior year???s power league results. We found that clubs will tend to finish in approximately the same place they finished the prior year for each of the age groups. Therefore our best method to complete the initial seeding is to use last year???s actual results for the same aged team the prior year (a specific club???s 16-1 team last year to seed the same club???s 16-1 team this year), balanced by the younger team???s actual results the prior year (their 15-1 team last year to seed their 16-1 team this year).
Obviously without actual results from the teams this year the seeding at the beginning of the season is more challenging than it will be later in the season. We have found that clubs tend to be pretty consistent rankings from year to year in the same ages, and the biggest challenge is in trying to place teams that we didn???t see in last year???s power league.
I hope that is of some help. Good luck!
Dave Weitl, Club Director, Washington Volleyball Academy, AVCA Board of Directors, JVA Board of Directors

???Open??? has been widely used to distinguish the highest level of competition within a single event. ???Club??? has been typically used to describe a level or levels below the Open level. It???s important to note that Open can mean something different at a large scale national event when compared to a smaller more local based event.
You do not have to declare yourself an Open or a Club level team with your national governing organization at the start of the season [or frankly at any point in the season] but you do have to select your competitive level when entering events [certainly most larger events].
What level a club/team selects depends on a variety of factors and requires some self-awareness. Questions to ask are:
1. What types of events are you currently playing in and what competitive level do they represent?2. What level of success have you achieved in club level events?3. Do you have a team that prefers to win at a slightly lower competitive level or a team that will risk losing to face better competition.4. Do you have the coaching staff, athletes, training program to prepare your team for competition at the next level?
As we developed competitiveness in our club we began by trying one or two open level events at the older ages. Within a couple years we were able to have all our ???1??? teams from 14-18???s competing exclusively at the Open level. If that level is an ultimate goal at some point you have to simply ???give it a try???.
Sherry Fadool, Club Director, Triangle Volleyball Club

Brian, we want to give you a helpful answer but first can you clarify what the reason is that you are wanting to teach parents to keep score/take stats? Are you planning to use parents as official scorekeepers during your referee duties? Or are you for some reason wanting parents to keep score in the stands during competition? Are you looking for parents to keep stats for the team and coaches or have the parents keeping stats just for their own (the parents???) use?

Most tournaments will divide an age group into more than one division once the number of teams reaches a certain level. Other tournaments will provide specific competitive divisions in order to provide a qualifying opportunity for the teams in that division to play in another tournament that requires 'qualifying'.One goal of creating different divisions within the same age group is to ensure the best competitive experience possible. It may not be enjoyable or appropriate for a team seeded #1 to play a match against a team that is seeded #200. In most cases, neither team benefits from that type of a mis-match and in some cases someone might even get hurt! It is usually preferred to match up teams as close in ability as possible to ensure a competitive match that is beneficial for both teams and more enjoyable for the players and fans!Another benefit of creating different divisions within the same age group is to ensure that the process of selecting a champion in that division has integrity. Tournaments are always limited to a certain number of days or rounds of competition and the larger the field grows, the more challenging it becomes to provide a process to pare the field down to the finalists competing for the championship and you want to ensure every team feels they had a fair shot at getting into that top group.The JVA World Challenge in Louisville, KY will be offering two divisions, Open Division for the highest level of competition, and Club Division. For more information about this tournament, you can visit the tournament website at:http://jva.avca.org/Tournaments/2013JVAWorldChallenge.aspx Most tournaments will use Open to designate their top division, and thereafter it may vary from tournament to tournament. The AAU National Championships in Orlando have expanded to offer three divisions within the larger age groups. The Open Division is the highest, Club Division is the middle, and Classic Division is the lowest level in that tournament. It is important that you understand the ranking and size of each division before entering a tournament to ensure you have selected the most appropriate level for your teams. The selection of the right competitive level will many times determine the quality of the experience for your teams.For more information about the AAU Girls Junior National Championships, you can read their tournament information here:http://image.aausports.org/dnn/volleyball/2013/GJNVConline.pdf Good luck to your teams!

There are specific guidelines for the size of the #s or jerseys per USA. I???m not sure if AAU has guidelines. Since we play in both tournaments we go by USA guidelines. The regulation minimum is 4??? on the front of the jersey and 6??? on the back of the jersey. We (Houston Juniors) do 6??? on the front and 8??? on the back, 2 digit #???s only. As far as numbering jerseys we only do 1 ??" 25. I think that is a club preference. I would not do more than 2 digits because of how it looks on certain sizes (x-small- small).
Answered by: Stephanie Rhodes, Club Director, Houston Juniors

Shannon,I would first look to the current local clubs in your area and see if anyone has one or is interested in starting one. If that does not work you might look into the local park district to see if you can rent a court to get one started or a local club who has a facility and see if they would be open to you beginning one. From there I would contact the current clubs in the country who have Vtots to ask for help and ideas on teaching tools, what type of equipment you would need to purchase, training models, drills, physical aspects, philosophies, etc... The JVA does have a support system in place with a video series available for youth development (available on the JVA website under Educational/Resources/DVDs) and then I would suggest doing research from other countries. I have used soccer academies as my main source of education and then Japan, Brazil, Italy, Canada and some other countries have great YouTube videos with drills for the younger athlete. I have hours and hours of video so I would be happy to share that with you.

We just opened up our GLC Youth Academy this past fall and we have as young as 4 year olds in the program. It has grown very quickly and we are just short of 1200 kids involved in our K-7th grade programs since the fall of 2013 to current. This does not include our Youth Academy boys program which has over 150 currently.We run 8-10 week sessions with 1.5 hour sessions, one day per week for the K-2nd graders. The 3rd and 4th graders go 8-10 weeks, 2 days per week for 1.5 hours and then hour 5th and 6th graders go 2 days per week for 12-16 weeks for 2 hours each practice.

We have in house play for our K-4th graders and then our 5th and 6th graders play in JVA tournaments. Our K-2nd grade play 2 on 2 with a very low net, our 3rd and 4th graders play 4 on 4 with a 20 x 20 court and 6'6 net and then our 5th and 6th graders play full court, 6 on 6 with a 7' net. Good luck and if I can help you in anyway you can email me at glv@greatlakescenter.com.Cheryl ButlerGLV, Inc.Sports Performance Volleyball Co-DirectorGLC Youth Academy Director

JVA has many resources for starting a volleyball club, as most new clubs begin with only a few teams. One resource is a blog on Starting a Volleyball Club where a first time club director talks about his experience during his first year. http://junior-volleyball.blogspot.com/Other resources include webinars http://jva.avca.org/EducationalResources/Webinars.aspx, articles, handouts, DVDs, and tools to help new club directors with insurance, budgeting, finding tournaments, training coaches, etc. If you are not yet a JVA member you can view more information here http://jva.avca.org/Membership/MemberBenefits.aspx.Let us know where you are located and we can put you in touch with other club directors in your area so you can coordinate tournaments. Our members are a great resource for each other as we all want each other's clubs to succeed.

JVA does not "require" referee and scorekeeper certification. However, under our Club Management Best Practices we do urge all clubs to train their coaches and athletes in the areas of scorekeeper and libero tracker, R2 duties, and line judging. This is an area that we have not addressed in our Club Management Resources but will look to include prior to the beginning of the season. http://jva.avca.org/EducationalResources.aspxJenny HahnJVA Executive Directorjenny.hahn@jvavolleyball.org

It looks as though many clubs use an excel document in google docs and share the document with their staff so everyone can see the court schedule. One JVA member club, Virginia Elite, highly recommends a program they use called Sign Up Genius - more info here http://www.signupgenius.com/If there are any other recommendations out there, please share!

Great question. I have spent many hours searching for quality multimedia play and drill software. I also wanted the end product to be animation or video.

Apple had some dynamic, intuitive diagramming programs (some should be listed on the JVA resource page). However, at that time their operating system did not allow for animated screen capture. In those systems, the end user is required to download the APP in order to watch the coaching videos or animations. I am not sure if the new iOS has resolved that issue and made the tool more share-friendly.

I purchased Volleyball Playbook (http://www.jes-volleyball.com/) and put it on my Laptop. I used some free screen capture software and and went to work on building a library. As part of the "flipping the classroom" concept my players would be responsible for reviewing the plan and watching the videos or diagrams. Many educational experts believe that performing some independent learning before taking part in the practice prepares the learner for the learning.Here is the template for the practice plan (links are broken, but access listed below): https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1pJUCmhy9quU3lKTFdQSUZ3Q28/edit?usp=sharing Those are sent to players via DropBox or Google.drive.

JVA does not prevent a player from player for more than one club. It it up to the clubs whether or not they would allow the player to play with both clubs. The parent should check with the club director to see if they would approve.

Here is some advice from JVA Executive Director Jenny Hahn who is co-founder of Milwaukee Sting Volleyball Club. "My best advice is to throw out a huge net. Tell everyone you know, have your parents and players and current coaches tell everyone they know. Do you have a free rec notes or posting in your local paper? If so, use that resource! Also post in the online local paper, CraigsList and Linked In. Contact the local colleges, DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, Technical schools, etc. Find out if they have club programs, the students are more available to coach. Find out if they have intramural volleyball leagues and hand out flyers on a league night or you might be able to get team captain contacts. Check your local adult volleyball leagues - same thing as above - hand out flyers, get team captain contacts."

You may want to approach your county, city, school district, park and rec dept. ,etc. They very often are looking for opportunities to provide quality recreational programming in your community. In return for program development and management, they maybe willing to partner in your facility. In addition to volleyball camps, clinics, after school programs, etc., the community groups may also be interested in utilizing space for other fitness or recreational programs. Check out the hottest trends in fitness for adults (zumba, boot camps, circuit training, etc.). With the current spotlight on youth obesity, youth fitness, these programs could be adapted to youth programs and use vacant time slots and space in your facility.For more information on funding a facility, purchase JVA webinar "Can I Justify a Volleyball Facility" that discusses financing and budgeting for a volleyball facility. JVA members receive all JVA webinars for free. Click here to view webinars http://jva.avca.org/EducationalResources/Webinars.aspx

Justin,Since you mentioned that the competition is about the same on Saturday as it is on Sunday
that would tell me that you feel your team is just performing better on
Saturday's than they are on Sunday's. Without knowing any details
about your team here are some random thoughts.1. As a coach are you stressing to your team when they leave the gym on Saturday that Sunday
needs to be better? It's always easier to play well on the first day
of a tournament since everyone is pretty excited to get in the gym and
compete on Day 1.2. Possibly review Saturday's play and what you feel like they can improve on and set your goals for Sunday after play is finished on Saturday. Leave the team and each player with a clear and concise explanation of what you are going to expect on Sunday before they leave the gym on Saturday.3.
During the week do you practice two days in a row (exp. Mon-Tue,
Tue-Wed, Wed-Thu.......) and are the practices such that your team needs
to "GRIND" on back to back days so they get used to replicating the
conditions that they will face in a multiple day tournament? Practices
should always be far more challenging than your toughest opponent!4. Are your players well conditioned so a 12-18 hour turnaround does not create a problem for them from finishing on Saturday afternoon or evening and then possibly having to be back in the gym on Sunday morning.5.
Have you thought about setting "benchmarks" for the team's level of
play? These benchmarks mean the team has to play to a certain level
regardless of what day it is and failure to reach those benchmarks
results in consequences which are decided by you and the team leadership
(stairs, sprints, extra passing-digging-attacking reps-etc......). By
doing this you and the team have committed to a "contract" that if
broken means extra work for all involved to get the team back to the
level that you all feel that you can play at. These benchmarks should
be "realistic" in nature and attainable if the team plays to it's
potential. The reason I bring this up is that when every player on the
team feels a sense of "urgency" to compete at the highest level, it's
much easier to keep everyone motivated to play to their potential.

In order to assist Club Directors with starting a club, making financial decisions, and following a business plan, we have templates and examples of legal documents and important forms, including a set of ByLaws shared from a 501c3 club. These resources are available in the JVA member resource library. Click here to view jva.avca.org/EducationalResources/ClubDirectorResources.aspxThe ByLaws are located in the section labeled "Admin/Accounting"We recommend clubs hire an attorney when creating and making changes to the club's ByLaws.

There is no ideal layout. The layout that is ideal, is what works for your parcel of land and for any building code requirements such as exiting. You need to decide all of the items you want in the building besides the courts, then add another 30-50% more onto that area for things you didn’t think of and for future use. You would be best to sit down with an architect on a computer and start making some rough sketches of where things are. Should it be 12 courts in a row with everything behind the courts, like our 8 court building? That has some advantages but it requires a very long building and might not fit on your land. Should it be 2 sets of 6 courts separated by a center core with a mezzanine overlooking both sides? That has some advantages, but leaves you with less space in the center core for all the other thing you might want. It also gives you no outside windows for anything in the center core. Once again, the best thing to do is to sit down with an architect and do some preliminary sketches. Yes it will cost some money to do this, but if you are concerned about spending that money you shouldn’t be attempting to build a facility.

I am not sure the answer can be cut and dry. It is as different as
what a club to club pay salary is so different. I feel like if your
only job is recruiting and you have two to three 18's teams and ALL your
players are getting recruited then you should be paid as a master
coach. If you coach and you only have a few kids recruited a year
probably just an additional stipend.I know that I spend
anywhere from 10-14 hours a week talking with either a college coach, a
player or a parent. Our typical coach spends 6 hours a week on the
floor coaching.

Your job should include:Educating parents,players and club coaches on recruiting procedures and follow through that this is done. You should be doing bi-weekly follow ups with each unsigned player 16-18.You should be responding to each college that contacts you about a player.You want to know each player and all info about them and each players ability level.You should attend all tourneys and talk with college coaches.

Without knowing all the details here are a couple of
questions you might want to ask and then a couple of thoughts on your
original question.

1. Will you have an equity position in the club (i.e. Part ownership) and/or new facility?If
you are a part-owner then you should share in the profit of the
business and you will also share in the risk associated with owning that
business so you need to go in with your eyes open to the fact that
"profits" are an option as well as "losses."

2. Will the club & new facility be owned by the same entities or separate (one or two LLC's or Corporations)?"Often
real estate & buildings are owned by a separate LLC or
Corporation from the entity that owns the club. As an investor will you
have ownership in everything or just the club or just the facility?

The key is to have clear guidance at the beginning of the relationship on how your investment is going to be returned to you.

You
can choose to be a "lender" and ask for a set rate of return on your
loan over a specific period of time. Much like a bank acts when it
loans money. Normally the riskier the loan the higher rate of return
you should receive. If you choose to be a lender then you will need to
be clear if your loan is "secured" or "unsecured" which means that there
is some type of guarantee given to you or collateral put up so you are
confident you will be repaid in full at some point.

You
mention "sharing profits" but often in a new business all profits are
invested back to grow the business so the management of the company
might ask the investors to wave any returns for a period of 3-5 years so
the new company can get on its feet, develop a solid cash flow and
start making a profit.

Hope this helps and good luck to you. Feel free to email me with follow up questions.

40-45 parking spots for every competition court is a solid number. We (Sports Performance)
have 500 spots plus street parking for 12 courts and there are times
that we get very crowded. So 120-140 spots if the facility plans on
hosting events.
Rick Butler
Co-Director, Sports Performance Volleyball
Chicago, IL

There is absolutely no problem with using JVA for insuring your camps, clinics and in house leagues. As a JVA member club you can purchase low cost insurance. More information available here jva.avca.org/Insurance.aspx For more information on the Level 3 Club Membership
with AAU, it is best to check with AAU, I believe you may actually need
to have a club with members. Email debby@aauvolleyball.orgMany of our members are members of AAU and JVA and utilize both insurance options for their programs. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

Based on our 2012 Financial Survey where we surveyed a pool of 100 club directors from around the country, 29% of clubs pay $300-500/month, 25% pay $501-$700/month and 25% pay $701-$1,000/month to Elite Head Coaches. 51% pay per diem, 49% do not. 43% of clubs that do provide per diem pay $20-$25/day, 33% pay $30-$35/day and 24% pay $40 or more per day. Most clubs reimburse for gas mileage to and from a tournament. For more junior volleyball education visit www.jvaonline.org. JVA members have access to more junior volleyball industry data in the JVA member resources.

JVA membership is for Club Directors and Club Coaches. Players are considered members of JVA clubs and are under the JVA umbrella, however there is no direct cost for membership. More information about JVA membership can be found here www.jvaonline.org/Membership.aspx

In our club environment we actually cover ‘over exuberance’ in our mandatory parent meeting. The example I often give is a scene I observed once at a tournament. Our team won an important match. It was not a final, there was no hardware involved but the match set the stage for the team to advance. The kids, fully cognizant that it was a big win, but knowing much work remained celebrated ‘appropriately’. I looked over at the parent section and they were going crazy…running up and down the aisles high fiving each other, hugging each other…it looked like we won a national championship. It was a perfect example of how all too often parents take more seriously the youth sports experience when in fact the experience is one designed for the athlete.

Regardless, how does this person go forward. I have one suggestion to add. The coach can reach out to the opposing coach in advance of the game and state her concerns and the impact this has had on her young athletes in the past. She can ask the coach to get a commitment from their parents in advance to refrain from this type of cheering and over exuberance in general. If they will not agree she can respectfully forfeit. If no one will play that team; they will have little to cheer for. It will become yet another example of how parent behavior can ‘ruin’ the youth sports experience for children.

In conclusion, there is a book I bring 100 copies of each year to my parent orientation meeting. “TheFulfilling Ride: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Athletes Have a Successful Sport Experience by Dr. Greg Dale. I have even had Dr. Dale present to our staff. Every year parents tell me the book changed the way they approach their child’s athletics. In the end, we have accepted that in addition to educating the young people in our program we need to partner effectively with parents who often times need our guidance and experience to be the best supporter possible of the experience while allowing the child to fully own it.

Chris - we apologize that this question was not answered immediately! It fell under the cracks somehow.. Is you are still working with this player, can you send a short video of her trying to serve so we can give some feedback? There could be several variables (toss, armswing, footwork, body position, etc) that could be assessed to help her and you.Thanks! JVA

Emily,Here are sources for information:1. JVA Facility Blog includes articles from volleyball facility owners all over the country with helpful tips and business advice.2. Upcoming JVA Webinar March 11th FREE for JVA Members $9.99 for non-members. "We Own/Lease Our Own Facility. How Do I Keep it Open? Tips from Seasoned Owners on how to Maximize your Profits and Minimize your Expenses" Registration has not opened yet but will next week so that will be a helpful resource.3. JVA Club Director Resource Library: Includes articles, forms, budgeting worksheets, documents all related to owning and operating a facility. As a JVA member we will also connect you with facility owners who have been doing this for a long time and can assist you via phone and email. We are all about sharing knowledge and helping you run a successful business. That only helps to grow the game.Please reach out to us at members@jvavolleyball.org if you would like to join. If you are already a member login to the JVA website to view member only content. Let us know how we can help.

Taraflex is doing a promotion with a few chosen JVA clubs where they will offer their floor at or below the cost of sport court. Their product comes very highly recommended by Club Directors. Contact Joe Corbett of Taraflex at jcorbett@gerflorusa.com
For used sport court tiles, I would suggest contacting the people who lease volleyball courts as they turn over their courts every few years. There is another product out there that JVA has been using via NetLynx that has more cushioning than Sport Court, it is called Snap Court.

Our 7th grade "full season" players and older clean all 12 of our courts each day. We lay down about 10 damp beach size towels and a player pushes a towel for 2 courts and then switches with another player who is waiting 2 courts down. A group of players goes down one side of the gym and then a separate group comes back down the other side so all 12 courts are cleaned when we are done with practice. The whole process takes about 2-3 minutes. Our players are also in charge of sweeping the floor prior to pushing the wet towels, making sure the nets are tightened, balls are out, towels for floor wiping are hanging on the nets and anything else that needs to be done to prepare the gym for practice. Every team has "work duties" prior to the start of practice or after practice, but all the players are involved in keeping the floor clean.